Leading From Within Welcomes Two New Board Members

Currently Associate Director of Orientation Programs and Parent Services at UCSB, Maritza is an alumna of our Katherine Harvey Fellows program, and she served on the planning committee for the organization’s 2018 Possibility Lab.In her role at UCSB, Mejia-Wilson supervises the orientation team who serve over 5000 students annually, trains staff in issues related to cross-cultural communications, health and safety, and helps develop bilingual presentations and resource materials for incoming families. After graduating with a degree in global studies from UCSB, Mejia-Wilson pursued her master’s degree in public administration at CSUN. Her dedication to community service drew her to serve as the outreach manager at the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, where she developed new programs and strategies implemented throughout Santa Barbara County. Mejia-Wilson was one of the founders and board leaders of the Adsum Education Foundation, helping to provide scholarship opportunities for students who do not have access to federal sources of financial aid. She was instrumental in expanding the resources available to AB540 students(“Dreamers”) in Santa Barbara County and she and her team were honored for their work as Local Heroes by the Santa Barbara Independent in 2012.

Kim Colby Davis

Kim is Executive Director of CASA of Santa Barbara County. CASA’s mission is to assure a safe, permanent, nurturing home for every abused and/or neglected child by providing a highly trained volunteer to advocate for them in the court system. Kim is an alumnus of our Courage to Lead program, and lives in Santa Maria, where CASA is based. She has sponsored employees to participate in 3 of our programs (Courage to Lead, Emerging Leaders, and Leading for Community Impact). With a background and education in Business Management, Kim began volunteering for CASA of Santa Barbara County in 2006 as an advocate for children. Soon after, she joined the CASA staff in the role of Recruiting and Outreach Coordinator. In 2009 Kim accepted the position of Executive Director for CASA of Santa Barbara County and has led the team to achieve growth that has allowed CASA to serve 95% of the children in need in Santa Barbara County. With a team of 15 CASA staff, they now lead a volunteer force of more than 300 community volunteers.

Kim has served on the Board of Directors for the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum and is a member of the North County Advisory Committee for CALM. In 2014 Kim was honored with the “Woman of Excellence” award in the category of “Women of Spirit.” Currently, Kim is serving on the National CASA Suburban Leadership Council as co-chair, and on the National CASA National Leadership Council as chairperson. In her spare time, Kim enjoys traveling with her husband, gardening, and spending time with her many nieces and nephews.

Before confirming your registration, please note with the nature of this event, attendees must arrive on time and stay at Alisal Ranch for the full day: 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Our PFE program takes place at several inland sites at the ranch, and we will not have access to coordinate individual, escorted transport back to the parking lot unless the matter is deemed urgent. Thank you for confirming your understanding

Yes! I want to join our community an all-day outdoors experience on April 11.